pafp SO LIE TO ME | spar

[SCORCHSTORM]

Sunstar has finally seen fit to give her an apprentice... of sorts. Once Buck, now Buckfire, stands before her, paws rooted to the new grass. They had spent some time in the badger sett together, but have otherwise failed to make much acquaintance. Scorchstorm would like to be excited about her new role in his life, would like to revel in the responsibility her leader has given her, but even with her body standing stark against the blue horizon, her mind wanders to blue and silver fur.

But she is not in the nursery. She faces the new near-warrior with a stony expression, pressing white-dipped paws into the sandy earth as if she can auger herself there. "What do you know about fighting? Battle?" she presses the dust-brown tom. He ought to know something if he fended off that fox the way he'd said, but she would hate to throw the weight of her skill at him unprepared. She does not think it an overstatement to admit that she is quite good in this particular field. She has left a field of injured in her wake; has turned a cat into a corpse. That ghost seems to possess her hind leg now — where Honeybadger had once sunk teeth, the limb aches familiar. Damned thing. But it is not her choice, and she cannot will it to stop.

"I will tell you this to begin: know where the wind is coming from, and keep it and the sun behind you. You may have the first move." The tortoiseshell falls into a defensive crouch, dual-toned eyes flashing.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐌 ✧

• ooc. @BUCKFIRE !
  
• SCORCHSTORM —— warrior of windclan, mentored by sunstar & badgermoon . scorchstreak x badgermoon . littermate to rumblerain, frostwind, and luckypaw ✦ penned by meghan
  
  ✦ a broad-shouldered tortoiseshell with low white and dual-toned amber eyes. extremely loyal to sunstar and her family, and enjoys a deep connection to the moorlands
  ✦ demigirl / she they pronouns / lesbian / 16 moons & ages every 1st
  ✦ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline & tag account when attacking
  —— will start fights / will not flee / may show mercy. fights honorably and with great ferocity. can tank a few hits, but is not the sturdiest cat in windclan. starts fights with the intention of finishing them permanently, but will not aim to maim or kill obviously young cats
  
  ✦ "speech", thoughts, all opinions are in character
  ✦ full biography — msg on discord for plots — toyhouse
  

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[BUCKFIRE]

No longer a loner was he, but a clan cat. Buckfire didn't really feel it yet, but the extra name tacked onto his own made matters official. Buckfire — he wonders why Sunstar had chosen such a suffix for him. He liked the way that it rolled off his tongue; maybe it had something to do with his demeanor, or perhaps his scorching good looks. He'd have to ask him one of these days.

The path to true warriorhood would be a new challenge for him, one that he was willing to grip tightly by the horns and ride. Buckfire liked the thrill of a challenge, especially the glorious feeling of success that came along with it. He cannot help but wonder if life here would truly be cut out for a wanderer like him, but that was something he would shelve in the corner of his mind. There was work to be done and training to be had, a task that he would meet with zest.

Funnily enough, one of the illness-stricken cats he had the pleasure of meeting in the badger set was to be his "mentor". She was younger than him but obviously had some experience under her pelt as suggested by the scarring that littered her form. It was odd to think that warriors had to train in the art of combat. Didn't one just... fight? Rely on their instincts? What more to it was there?

When Scorchstorm inquires about Buckfire's combat capabilities, he gives a shrug and answers honestly, "Enough to save my own hide a good few times." He only threw claws when he had to, which hadn't been often save for the few instances where he'd run into a mad hound or an unfriendly rogue.

The tortoiseshell's words of advice marinate in the brown tabby's mind for a few moments. He can't help but question if all of these considerations were truly necessary — shouldn't he just go for it and see what happened? None of it would matter once he's submerged in the heat of battle, he thinks. Buckfire supposes that the part about the sun makes the most sense, though. "Mmkay," A meow utters from the tom.

Without a second thought, Buckfire practically throws himself at Scorchstorm without any real tactic. He stretches out his limbs, aiming to bowl the moor runner over.

𝐈 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 ✹ . + ˚ · 　 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋

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  a new warrior of windclan, buckfire is thirty-one moons. he is a ruggedly handsome tom, sporting lean muscle and a slightly taller-than-average stature. there is a nick in his left ear as well as a small scratch on his right lip. he smells of cotton grass and gorse.　✦

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[downyfur]

Downyfur is no stranger to battle, but it's by some miracle of the stars that they've survived this long. Or perhaps it's the soft hearts of their opponents that let them live for this long, for each time they'd walked the battlefield it'd been in apprentice's paws. They still don't look that much farther from an apprentice; they have to hope their youthful charm would continue to protect them if war ever found the moors again.

Sitting on the sidelines of the training grounds, the tunneler sizes one of the fighting pairs up. The match-up is... a little silly, though they wouldn't hurt Buckfire's pride by admitting it aloud. A scrappy tomcat, not even a WindClanner for a full season's turn, versus the force of nature that Scorchstorm was by grueling practice and birthright. Clearly, that was the reason why Sunstar had named his apprentice as his "mentor," and Downyfur has to give him a little credit for not appearing visibly daunted. They know they would be, especially as an apprentice. A soft purr of encouragement: "You've got this, Buckfire!" With as skilled as his opponent is, they have to assume she's just as self-assured too.​

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[SEDGEPOUNCE]

It's Bunnypaw's first foray to the training grounds. Sedgepounce would have preferred them quieter, but as they wander closer to the sandy ravine, the crowd gathered around Scorchstorm and Buckfire's tense standoff becomes unignorable. As his gaze flickers between the two combatants, a long-smothered flame of eagerness ignites within his chest. Sedgepounce likes sparring. He's good at sparring. It has never held the same noxious odor as fighting, as killing.

"Watch this," Sedgepounce mumbles toward Bunnypaw, settling on his haunches. "Dude doesn't stand a chance." It's no fault of Buckfire, of course. He's sure that under Scorchstorm's intense and expedient tutelage, he'll spiffy up into a great warrior, no doubt. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. But, still—he's got no chance.

// apprentice tag! @bunnykit
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[SCORCHSTORM]

In her readied stance, it is not difficult to sidestep Buckfire's first attack. Even in the first few steps of their dance her limbs sing with familiar pleasure. Scorchstorm does not often think of herself as seasoned, despite the stories her scars tell, but as their spar progresses now she realizes it is an erroneous judgment. She has seen battle more than a few times now — her first true fight had been against a former Clanmate, back when Sootstar had first ousted WindClan's rebels. In fact, she has yet to face a Clan in battle that did not splinter away from her own.

But experience is experience. Buckfire has enough experience to keep his pelt on his body, but not more than, and it shows in his lacking technique. Scorchstorm is dimly aware of the small crowd that amasses at the outskirts of their spar. She does not attempt to stifle the small current of pride that runs through her knowing they will be party to her victory — a victory she desperately needs right now, though victory is arguably not the point, here.

She rounds to face Buckfire, now behind her as a result of his missed attack. The sun halos her in golden flame. Careful to favor her better leg, she shifts her weight in an attempt to hook her teeth into the tom's tail and yank it, hoping to unbalance him. In her youth, she might have tried more evasive techniques that relied on agility over brute strength, but now Scorchstorm stands as one of WindClan's burliest warriors. She supposes she can thank Badgermoon for that much.

𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍’𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄 ✧

• ooc.
  
• SCORCHSTORM —— warrior of windclan, mentored by sunstar & badgermoon . scorchstreak x badgermoon . littermate to rumblerain, frostwind, and luckypaw ✦ penned by meghan
  
  ✦ a broad-shouldered tortoiseshell with low white and dual-toned amber eyes. extremely loyal to sunstar and her family, and enjoys a deep connection to the moorlands
  ✦ demigirl / she they pronouns / lesbian / 17 moons & ages every 1st
  ✦ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline & tag account when attacking
  —— will start fights / will not flee / may show mercy. fights honorably and with great ferocity. can tank a few hits, but is not the sturdiest cat in windclan. starts fights with the intention of finishing them permanently, but will not aim to maim or kill obviously young cats
  
  ✦ "speech", thoughts, all opinions are in character
  ✦ full biography — msg on discord for plots — toyhouse
  

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